The invention relates generally to a downhole safety valve assembly that has sensing capabilities, such as, for example, a safety valve assembly that has at least one temperature and/or pressure sensor.
A typical subterranean well includes a formation isolation valve, or safety valve, for purposes of providing a failsafe mechanism to isolate one or more downhole formations from the surface of the well. A typical safety valve may be formed from a flapper element that is located inside a tubular string and is biased to close off a central passageway of the string. The flapper element may be opened by a flow tube.
More specifically, a conventional safety valve assembly may include a flapper valve element and a hydraulically-actuated flow tube. When communication is desired between the surface and the formation(s) below the safety valve, the flow tube is actuated to force the flapper valve element open. However, when this communication is no longer desired, the flow tube is actuated to retract, a retraction that allows the flapper element to return to its normally closed position to isolate the formation(s) from the surface of the well.
A difficulty in using the above-described arrangement is that downhole seals, such as seals associated with hydraulic control lines that control movement of the flow tube, may potentially fail. Although safety valve assemblies have been designed to accommodate potential seal failure, an operator at the surface of the well may be unaware of such a failure or the specific type of failure, as the safety valve assembly typically is located far (approximately 10,000 feet or more downhole, for example) from the surface of the well.